On a Dissonant Note

I have been waiting years for a music critic from the Los Angeles Times to have the courage to speak out in favor of “balanced” programming for both the L.A. Philharmonic and L.A. Opera (“L.A. Could Take a Lesson From Salzburg,” by Mark Swed, Sept. 4).

The fact that some people close their ears to the likes of Ligeti, Berio and John Cage is not a reason to omit those composers and others from being heard. When I see my fellow septuagenarians leave a performance in droves because they do not wish to hear dissonances, I can only feel sorry for their narrowness and limited capacity to enjoy new sounds.

We have a world-class orchestra and a world-class young conductor in Esa-Pekka Salonen. Let’s develop a world-class audience to enjoy their music. This can be done by making certain that difficult music is heard at concerts before the old chestnuts lull the “music lovers” into their customary soporose state. It will take time, but remember that Beethoven was once considered too modern for sensitive listeners.

ARTHUR HOBERMAN

Thousand Oaks

Swed’s advice to the Los Angeles Philharmonic to take a lesson from the program presented at the Salzburg Festival is poor advice. He completely overlooks elementary and basic programming concepts in his zeal to force certain elements of contemporary classical music on a public that does not want to sit through performances considered lacking in melody or just plain unpleasant.

At KKGO-FM, we present a balanced selection of classical music through the 20th century, including very selective airings of contemporary music that fits our mainstream approach. We do not air the works of John Cage or similar-sounding composers. I am certain that if we programmed classical music based on Swed’s proposed Salzburg lesson, our audience would shrink from more than 600,000 people a week to an audience that could fit in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

SAUL LEVINE

President and general manager

KKGO-FM, Los Angeles

For a change, we have a music critic who loves music! I cannot understand the people who would not attempt to drive a 1929 Ford but have no patience with “new music” or “new art.” Does one want to look only at Rembrandts, listen to 200-year-old music and drive teams of horses?

A.G. LUBOFF

Studio City